High Ground

By: Richard Authier Lee

Narrated by: Richard Authier Lee

Margaret’s father died in a car crash near his coastal Maine summer home. She has come to retrieve his dog and belongings and stepped into a war for this strange little town’s soul.

In a once grand mansion next door she finds Esther Brandt, a sweet, frail old woman living alone in terror in the huge, darkened house. Esther tells her she is an EMF hypersensitive who suffers pain in the presence of electromagnetic fields from radio, TV, or even electric wires. She tells Margaret that she is under nightly attack by searing radiation of an unknown source.

Unsure if Esther is insane, confused or tormented, Margaret turns to the townspeople for help but finds none. Esther’s hated robber-baron father had ground the people of this town to dust in his long-closed mills. However, one woman confides, "Esther may be crazed, but she is not crazy”.

Margaret learns that a 21st century robber-baron has begun night test flights of a powerful new weapon from a reactivated World War II airfield nearby, directly over the Brandt estate, unaware that anyone still lives in the dark, decrepit mansion below.

Like a Michael Crichton novel set in Stephen King's fictional town of Castle Rock, High Ground is a collision between the technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries and the struggle between entrenched long-suffering hatred and the powerful human need to forgive.

©2017 Richard A. Lee (P)2019 Richard A. Lee

A Wild Maine Tale

I just finished listening to High Ground. I enjoyed the story but found I was often lost in the many narratives involved. I know virtually nothing about EMR and found that interesting and alarming, but frankly it was tedious to hear several detailed explanations. The detail would probably be an important point of interest for someone with a technical background. I also found the story line of the two pilots hard to understand - I kept thinking what is happening and in each case, the flights just didn't make sense to me, nor the detailed descriptions of the aircrafts. Again, not a match for my level of technology. Finally, the story of Esther and Ruth was odd - and why, once they discovered their relationship, was Esther completely reluctant to leave the house. I just didn't understand her motivation to remain isolated in the house and not go out into her extensive land and gardens. Of particular note on the plus side, I enjoyed the realistic close-up view of a small coastal town and its social dynamics, with vivid Maine-specific detail. The audio book format allowed the down-east accents and locutions to shine. So, all in all, I will remember High Ground, and give it 4 stars.